Gillibrand: Western New Yorkers Have Less Than One Week To Apply For Federal Disaster Aid

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today alerted residents and
businesses in Chautauqua, Erie and Cattaraugus Counties that they have
less than one week to apply for federal assistance. Western New Yorkers
who suffered damage from the flooding in August must register with the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) by November 3. For a
low-interest loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA),
applications for a Physical Loan are due by November 3 or an Economic
Injury Loan by June 4, 2010.

"Western
New York homeowners and small businesses were hit hard by the
devastating summer storms," Senator Gillibrand said. "Individual
Assistance will go a long way to provide the aid necessary to help our
community get back on their feet."

In
August, Western New York was hit hard by severe storms that destroyed
homes and businesses throughout Chautauqua, Erie and Cattaraugus
Counties. FEMA agreed to provide both Individual Assistance and Public
Assistance to these counties on September 1, and agreed to provide
public assistance for Allegany County at the end of the month.

FEMA
Individual Assistance is available for those whose homes that were
damaged in the August floods. Such aid includes temporary housing,
repair, and construction. The maximum aid amount is $30,300 per
household for damages not covered by insurance.

The FEMA Public Assistance program provides assistance
to State and local governments and certain private nonprofit
organizations for emergency work and the repair or replacement of
disaster-damaged facilities.

To
register for FEMA assistance, residents can call (800)-621-3362. The
hearing impaired can call via TTY (800) 462-7585. Both lines are open
Monday through Sunday, 7 AM to 1 AM. Registration may be completed
online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov.

The
SBA provides low-interest loans to homeowners, renters, businesses and
organizations to repair or replace property, equipment, inventory and
business assets that were damaged in a disaster. Registration may be
completed online at http://www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance/index.html.